I want to disembark a day early from a cruise to Hawaii. Our last port is Honolulu and we will get there late Saturday night, have all day Sunday for excursions, and are scheduled to disembark at 8:00 am Monday morning. I will be staying another week in Honolulu before flying home. I want to disembark on Sunday afternoon and check into my hotel, instead of getting up early on Monday, disembarking, and having to wait until 4 pm to get into my hotel room, in addition to avoiding the crowds of people leaving the ship.

I have gotten different answers from Carnival each time I call as to whether I will be allowed to disembark a day early. First, I was told I could. Then I was told I couldn't because of the Jones Act. I was told I could if I were in another country, but I couldn't because I was in the U.S. Then another time I was told I could leave early, but that as soon as I left the ship, I would not be allowed to re-board.

Has anyone disembarked early, in the U.S., from a Carnival cruise, and if so, what was the process?

I want to disembark a day early from a cruise to Hawaii. Our last port is Honolulu and we will get there late Saturday night, have all day Sunday for excursions, and are scheduled to disembark at 8:00 am Monday morning. I will be staying another week in Honolulu before flying home. I want to disembark on Sunday afternoon and check into my hotel, instead of getting up early on Monday, disembarking, and having to wait until 4 pm to get into my hotel room, in addition to avoiding the crowds of people leaving the ship.

I have gotten different answers from Carnival each time I call as to whether I will be allowed to disembark a day early. First, I was told I could. Then I was told I couldn't because of the Jones Act. I was told I could if I were in another country, but I couldn't because I was in the U.S. Then another time I was told I could leave early, but that as soon as I left the ship, I would not be allowed to re-board.

Has anyone disembarked early, in the U.S., from a Carnival cruise, and if so, what was the process?

Thank you.

How would they stop you if you didn't come back to the ship? They are very quick to tell you that they will not wait if you are late.

OK, as I read what the OP is saying....wait.... first:does the ship dock all night or does it leave port and return? If it leaves port does it leave US waters?
If the ship stays docked I don't see a problem.

You would look funny going ashore with your baggage prematurely.

Now, the short answer is:The PSA does not prohibit foreign-flagged ships from going from one US port to
another. What it prohibits is embarking passengers in one US port and
disembarking them in another. The key is where a passenger begins and ends the
voyage. That's why you can't just join a voyage anywhere along the itinerary
and get off where you wish. Despite the fact that the cruise line
representative referred to the wrong regulation, what you are asking to do is
in fact illegal.

The restrictions regarding carriage of passengers between U.S. ports come
from the Passenger Service Act of 1886, not the Jones Act. The Jones Act
applies to cargo. These same restrictions apply to U.S. flag vessels that
were not built in the U.S. Neither law applies to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
They do apply to Puerto Rico, except as noted below.

Passage on a foreign flag vessel can be sold on a voyage between two
ports in the U.S, but the ship must make an intervening port call at a
port that is not "nearby foreign." For example a passenger can embark in
Los Angeles and disembark in Fort Lauderdale only if the ship makes a port
call in South America or the Netherlands Antilles. If the ship only makes
intervening port calls in Central America or elsewhere in the Caribbean,
the voyage would be illegal.

Ships that do not go to a "distant foreign port" can make consecutive port
calls in several U.S. ports and the passengers who embarked in one port can
go ashore in another U.S. port for sightseeing and other activities, provided
that they return to the ship and sail out of the port and the ship makes at
least one stop in a foreign port during the voyage. The passengers must
disembark in the same U.S. port in which they originally embarked.

Here is the section of the Customs regulations, for anyone who delights in
reading the actual red tape:

Code of Federal Regulations Title 19

section 4.80a Coastwise transportation of passengers.
(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms will
have the meaning set forth below:
(1) Coastwise port means a port in the U.S., its territories, or
possessions embraced within the coastwise laws.
(2) Nearby foreign port means any foreign port in North America,
Central America, the Bermuda Islands, or the West Indies (including
the Bahama Islands, but not including the Leeward Islands of the
Netherlands Antilles, i.e., Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao). A port in
the U.S. Virgin Islands shall be treated as a nearby foreign port.
(3) Distant foreign port means any foreign port that is not a
nearby port.
(4) Embark means a passenger boarding a vessel for the duration
of a specific voyage and disembark means a passenger leaving a
vessel at the conclusion of a specific voyage. The terms embark
and disembark are not applicable to a passenger going ashore
temporarily at a coastwise port who reboards the vessel and departs
with it on sailing from the port.
(5) Passenger has the meaning defined in Sec. 4.50(b).
(b) The applicability of the coastwise law (46 U.S.C. 289) to a
vessel not qualified to engage in the coastwise trade (i.e., either
a foreign-flag vessel or a U.S.-flag vessel that is foreign-built
or at one time has been under foreign-flag) which embarks a
passenger at a coastwise port is as follows:
(1) If the passenger is on a voyage solely to one or more
coastwise ports and the passenger disembarks or goes ashore
temporarily at a coastwise port, there is a violation of the
coastwise law.
(2) If the passenger is on a voyage to one or more coastwise
ports and a nearby foreign port or ports (but at no other foreign
port) and the passenger disembarks at a coastwise port other than
the port of embarkation, there is a violation of the coastwise law.
(3) If the passenger is on a voyage to one or more coastwise
ports and a distant foreign port or ports (whether or not the
voyage includes a nearby foreign port or ports) and the passenger
disembarks at a coastwise port, there is no violation of the
coastwise law provided the passenger has proceeded with the vessel
to a distant foreign port.
(c) An exception to the prohibition in this section is the
transportation of passengers between ports in Puerto Rico and other
ports in the U.S. on passenger vessels not qualified to engage in
the coastwise trade. Such transportation is permitted until there
is a finding under 46 U.S.C. 289c that a qualified U.S.-flag
passenger vessel is available for such service.
(d) The owner or charterer of a foreign vessel or any other
interested person may request from Headquarters, U.S. Customs
Service, Attention: Carrier Rulings Branch, an advisory ruling as
to whether a contemplated voyage would be considered to be
coastwise transportation in violation of 46 U.S.C. 289. Such a
request shall be filed in accordance with the provisions of part
177, Customs Regulations (19 CFR part 177).
No. The Jones Act (also known as the Passenger Services Act) prohibits ships of non-U.S. registry from embarking and debarking guests at two different U.S. ports. Such travel would constitute point-to-point transportation between two U.S. ports which is prohibited on foreign flagged ships.
Note: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (St. Thomas; St. Croix; St. John) are not in the category of U.S. ports under this act.
The exception to this rule is if the itinerary includes a "distant foreign port". South America and the ABC Islands (Aruba-Bonaire-Curacao) do qualify as distant foreign ports. Canada, Mexico, Central America, Bermuda and most Caribbean Islands DO NOT qualify as distant foreign ports.
Any guest who insists on debarking in this situation (which violates the Jones Act) will accept responsibility for any resulting penalties.

"If a passenger leaves a vessel at the same port where boarding took place, there has been no transportation between U.S. points. Vessel calls at intermediate U.S. points in the course of a single cruise are also allowable, provided that no passenger permanently leaves the vessel at any of those ports and that a call is made at one or more foreign ports.
However, if the cruise itinerary includes a call at a foreign port sufficiently far from the United States (as for example in South America, Europe, Asia or Africa), a passenger may permanently leave the vessel at any subsequent U.S. port. When a passenger boards and leaves a vessel at the, same U.S. point, and the vessel touches no other U.S. or foreign points but merely goes on a so-called `voyage to nowhere,' the coastwise passenger law is not violated if the vessel proceeds beyond U.S. territorial waters into the high seas or foreign waters."

Now, I'm no lawyer and this is not meant as practicing law or pretending to know the law.

Phil & Liz

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